Target Reached!
15.12.09 | simon | 
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success, target
Today we have reached our target of $20,000 to put atheist messages on buses in the main centres of our fine country!
This is of course a direct result of the hundreds of generous individual donations and the thousands of supporters out there. You know who you are – thank you so much for getting this campaign on the road, literally.
We launched this campaign because there are lots of people out there who are unsure about this idea of god. Perhaps they grew up in religious homes and feel anxiety, or even fear, about threats such as hell, or choosing the wrong religious path. All of your donations will support this campaign to promote and reinforce the idea that it’s OK not to believe in a god, and that certainly one can be good without God. After all, more than 1.5 million Kiwis aren’t convinced by the claims of religion.
The campaign has also already started a healthy debate about the topics of god and religion and what role they play in our lives as individuals and as a society. No doubt this debate will continue and more people will come to think deeply about these topics.
We are currently planning when and how the ads will be rolled out onto buses across the country. News will be released here as soon as we have confirmed the details.
The donation system will remain live for the time being. Any donations beyond the $20,000 target will be put towards future atheist advertising campaigns. We have plans for future phases – possibly different slogans, different mediums. We thought this a better option than just closing donations, as to allow those who might have missed out the first time to donate still for the future.
Thank you all, you guys rock!
December 15th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Well done, and cheers to all that contributed!
December 15th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Well done guys!
Different mediums… I wonder if we could pay off the sensing murder psychics to include ads in their readings? They clearly have no shame, and it’s not like anyone watching the show is going to question anything coming out of their mouths even if it completely contradicts anything else they say.
of course that would mean having the show run another season and that would just be bad for everyone.
December 15th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
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December 15th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
I love that you hit your goal, doubled it, and hit it again, before you’d quite finished the supporting pages on the site. This is obviously the way to fund-raise. Sure beats sausage sizzles.
December 15th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I like the idea of the “You can be good without god” slogan.
As much as I enjoyed the twin towers “Imagine No Religion” poster, it would make more sense to me to keep the tone as positive as possible. I’d rather tell people “it’s alright to not believe” than “religion’s dumb”.
December 15th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
So now that you’ve acheived twice the money you originally set out to obtain, are we going to see more buses in the three centres, OR are we going to see the same amount of buses in Auckland, Wellington, and Christhurch, but also get to see buses here in Palmerston North, and other places like Dunedin, Hamilton, etc?
December 15th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
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December 15th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
@Jon Pawson Says: “[will we] get to see buses here in Palmerston North, and other places like Dunedin, Hamilton, etc?”
I’m not particularly involved in this campaign but I do know that it’s more likely to happen if you do almost _all_ the work for them so that nogod.org.nz can just sign the cheque to the bus company in your region. Eg, figure out the local bus company, give them a call about potential advertising, provide the image to them, get a quote, and then provide all this info to the overworked nogod.org.nz organizers.
If the main organizers are the bottleneck in the system then it won’t go as fast as it could, so it’s important to try and help them
Perhaps you could claim Palmy North, and others could claim their city, and make phones to bus companies straight away?
December 15th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Would other forms of Advertising be considered? Such as online advertising on reputable sites?
December 15th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
I’ve somewhat already claimed Palmy
Haha. I’m just putting the idea out there for other towns.
December 15th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Great news, well done. I don’t know what the time frame is now for the campaign but I understand that Richard Dawkins is coming to NZ in March. Would be great to get him involved…
December 15th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Woot! Way to go all. This will be SO COOL!
December 16th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
“Kiwis” not “Kiwi’s.”
Otherwise, well done!
December 16th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
December 17th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Absolutely inspired, I wonder how much flack the organisation is receiving from ‘the moral minority’
:-}
December 17th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
These adds will do nothing more that Upset a bunch of hyper-sensitive Christians….No one with any sort of intelligence will make spiritual decisions based on a billboard. Please spend this money on the real problems facing our world instead of this childish little pissing contest. Spending this money on charity would do much more to change peoples view of atheists.
If I were you I would follow my own advice….yes “There is probably no God, now stop worrying and get on with YOUR life”
December 17th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
@Shaun each act/campaign is part of a cumulative progression towards change. Little by little, piece by piece. Raising awareness such as this campaign does is an important part of the process. Thanks for the suggestion of spending money on charity, we’ll look into this type of idea for future campaigns. Of course it’s worth noting here that there are many secular/atheist charities out there at the moment.
December 17th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
@shaun:
You presume that the bus advert fails if it doesn’t convince people to make spiritual decisions. When you misunderstand, or misrepresent the purpose of the advert like that then of course it doesn’t match up with reality.
The purpose instead is to stimulate discussion on these issues, and rather than winning converts to support non-believers who are underrepresented in society.
Isn’t it funny how no one complains about weekly tithings spent on praise, but a passive aggresive ‘why don’t you spend the money elsewhere?’ comes out for atheism.
December 17th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
@shaun These Ads will encourage debate in society and make people ‘think’. And that is a huge contribution to any society.
History is evidence of the necessary changes accomplished by great poeple who were brave enough to go against the norm and bring forth controversial discussions.
This is not so much about changing people’s view of atheists as you put it, but rather to get people to examine their religious beliefs, atleast once, which is very important considering the pedestal religion is given and how so much evil is done in the name of religion around the world.
Do you not count 9/11 as a real problem? Or the discrimination against gays? Or how the Catholic Church has decreed that condoms are evil in Africa where thousands are dying of Aids?
Or the push for Religion masked as Science in schools? Or the abuse of women who are treated as 2nd class citizens in many religious countries?
How does spending on charity alleviate any of these issues? Only a huge shift in societal mindset can rid us of this archaic & primitive form of control, and as Simon said, little by little, piece by piece, we are trying.
December 17th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
@Matt : isn’t “it funny how no one complains about weekly tithings spent on praise, but a passive aggresive ‘why don’t you spend the money elsewhere?’ comes out for atheism.”
The context of this article is not about tithings for praise vs. Donations for Bus adds. otherwise, yes I would have said the same thing about tithings….I agree, the two are very similar.
@Shama “Do you not count 9/11 as a real problem? Or the discrimination against gays? Or how the Catholic Church has decreed that condoms are evil in Africa where thousands are dying of Aids?
Or the push for Religion masked as Science in schools? Or the abuse of women who are treated as 2nd class citizens in many religious countries?”
Yes I consider all of these things to be real problems….problems that (IMO) won’t be solved simply by encouraging people to have real discussions on religion….
These problems simply do not disappear when religion does, nor do the countless acts of kindness performed by the millions of individuals who help others in the name of their religion. Without religion, Mother Theresa would have still been Mother Theresa, and Osama Bin Laden would still have been Osama Bin Laden……its the nature of the person, not the conditioning…….(once again, IMO)
I just think that this is an awfully expensive conversation starter.
and if that is the real purpose of the project, then would you not agree that all the bilboards stating that God Does exist encourage just as much conversation on the topic? When I see a Theist inspired Add I say WTF? just like I did when I saw this add……..misappropriation of funds on both sides..(again IMO)
December 17th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
@shaun You’re more misinformed than I initially thought.
If you do some research and get your facts right, you will realise that Mother Theresa did hardly any good in India. In fact, she actively campaigned in India AGAINST the use of contraceptives, which she also famously declared when accepting her Nobel Peace prize. Sickening. She was a barrier against grassroots initiatives in India for the empowerment of women. What India really needs is to give women control over their own body, that’s what will make a difference.
She also believed in ‘the spiritual goodness of poverty’ and there are countless allegations of forced and coerced baptisms of the dying who were of other religions.
There is also widespread documentation by medical practitioners themselves who witnessed first-hand the horrific standard of medical care in her hospices.
And as to what she did with the millions donated, I’ll let you you find that out for yourself. Should be enlightening for you.
As Christopher Hitchens so aptly put it : “One of the most salient examples of people’s willingness to believe anything if it is garbed in the appearance of holiness is the uncritical acceptance of the idea of Mother Teresa as a saint by people who would normally be thinking – however lazily – in a secular or rational manner.”
December 17th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
@shaun Also, ofcourse most of these problems disappear when religion does. What makes you say they wouldn’t?? There is a direct pathway from religion to these evils. It is very likely that if the 9/11 terrorists were born elsewhere devoid of religion teaching them about Jihad, they wouldn’t have been flying those planes. Just as it is extremely likely that this whole Jerusalem saga wouldn’t be going on without religion. Just as it is likely the Crusades would never have happened if Christianity didn’t exist. Including every other holy war ever faught over history BECAUSE OF religion.
To make my point more clear, the healthiest nations in this world are the least religious (as indicated in this survey here: http://www.gallup.com/poll/114211/Alabamians-Iranians-Common.aspx )
Still don’t see a connection?
December 18th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
What was the single largest donation so far?
December 25th, 2009 at 4:05 am
For some more enlightenment; a friend of mine has written a book called “God Hates You, Hate Him Back”. A critical look at the Bible and it’s teachings from a rational point of view. Through Amazon. I’m guessing many posters would approve and enjoy the sentiments of the book…